MACASSAR OIL.—This popular and pleasant unguent for the hair can (as we know) be prepared at home, so as to equal, in efficacy and appearance, any that is for sale in the shops; and at less than one-third the expense. Take half an ounce of chippings of alkanet root, which may be bought at a druggist’s, for a few cents. Divide this quantity into two portions, and having cleared away any dust that may be about the alkanet, put each portion of the chips into a separate bit of new bobbinet, or very clear muslin. In tying it, use white thread, or fine white cotton cord; as a coloured string may communicate a dirty tinge to the oil. Put these little bags into a large glass tumbler, or a straight-sided white-ware jar, and pour on half a pint of the best fresh olive oil. Cover the vessel, and leave it undisturbed, for several days, or a week; taking care not to shake or stir it; and do not press or squeeze the bags. Have ready some small, flat-bottomed phials, or one large one, that will hold half a pint. Take out carefully the bags of alkanet, and lay them on a saucer. You will find that they have coloured the oil a bright, beautiful crimson. The bags will serve a second time for the same purpose. Put into the bottom of each phial a small quantity of any pleasant perfume; such as oil of orange-flowers; jessamine; rose; carnation; bergamot; oil of rhodium; oil of ambergris; or oil of cloves, mixed with a little tincture of musk. Then fill up each phial with the coloured oil, poured in through a small funnel; and, corking them tightly, tie a piece of white kid leather over the top.
To use macassar oil, (observing never to shake the bottle,) pour a little into a saucer, and, with your finger, rub it through the roots of the hair.
ANTIQUE OIL.—This is a fine oil for the hair. Mix together, in a clean glass vessel, half a pint of oil of sweet almonds, and half a pint of the best olive oil. Then scent it with any sort of perfume.
To give it the colour and odour of roses, infuse, in the mixed oil, a small, thin muslin bag of alkanet chips, and set it in a warm place, till coloured of a beautiful pink. Then remove the bag of alkanet, and perfume the oil with ottar of roses. Put it immediately into a bottle, and cork it well.
For a violet perfume, infuse, in the above quantity of the mixed oils, an ounce of the best orris powder. Let it stand, in a warm place, for a week; then pour the whole into a strainer, press out the liquid, and bottle it.
For an orange perfume, scent the oil with essence of neroli, or orange-flowers.
For jasmine, with extract of jasmine.
For bergamot, with essence of bergamot.
OIL OF CASSIA.—Put into a wide-mouthed glass vessel, an ounce of ground cassia. Heat three ounces of the best oil of cloves; and, while warm, pour it on the cassia. Cover it closely, and let it stand a week. Then press it through a sieve, placed over a bowl. Transfer it to small bottles, and cork them closely. It is a fine perfume. To weaken it, add a little inodorous alcohol, which, on inquiring for, you can obtain at the druggists’.
MILLEFLEURS PERFUME.—Mix together an ounce of oil of lavender; an ounce of essence of lemon; an ounce and a quarter of oil of ambergris; and half an ounce of oil of carraway. Add half a pint of alcohol, or spirits of wine, which should be of the inodorous sort. Shake all well together. Let it stand a week, closely corked, in a large bottle. You may then divide it in small bottles.
By mixing this perfume with equal quantities of olive oil, and oil of sweet almonds, instead of alcohol, you will have what is called millefleurs antique oil, which is used to improve the hair of young persons.
FRENCH HUNGARY WATER.—Take two large handfuls of the flowers and young leaves of rosemary; with a handful of lavender-blossoms; half a handful of thyme-blossoms; and half a handful of sage. Mix them well; put them into a large glass jar or bottle, and pour on a quart of inodorous spirits of wine. Then put in, as a colouring, some small bits of alkanet tied in a thin muslin bag. Cork the bottle closely, and shake it about for a while. Let it infuse during a month, exposed to the heat of the sun. Then strain it, and transfer it to smaller bottles.
FINE LAVENDER WATER.—Mix together, in a clean bottle, a pint of inodorous spirit of wine; an ounce of oil of lavender; a tea-spoonful of oil of bergamot; and a table-spoonful of oil of ambergris.
BERGAMOT WATER.—Melt a pound of the best broken-up loaf-sugar in a pint of water; add the yellow rind of six lemons or oranges, pared very thin. Set it over the fire, and boil and skim it till the scum ceases to rise. Then add the juice of the lemons or oranges; having squeezed it through a strainer into a bowl. After stirring in the juice, take the syrup from the fire, remove the pieces of rind, and stir in a tea-spoonful of genuine essence of bergamot. Bottle it, and it will be immediately fit for drinking. Pour some of it into a glass, and add a little ice-water. It will be found very fine.
TO PERFUME SOAP.—Take half a pound or more of the best white soap. Shave it down with a knife. Put the shavings into a clean white-ware jar; cover the top closely, and secure the cover by tying down a cloth over it. Set it into a large kettle or sauce-pan of hot water. The water must not come up near the top of the jar. It is well to place a trivet in the bottom of the kettle for the jar to stand on, so that a portion of the water may go under it. Place the kettle over the fire, or in a hot stove, and keep it boiling hard, till the soap in the jar within is thoroughly dissolved. It must become liquid all through, and have no lumps in it. Stir it well when done; and add, while warm, a sufficient portion of any nice perfume to scent it highly. For instance, oil of bitter almonds; extract of verbena; tincture of musk, or ambergris; oil of rhodium; oil of bergamot, lavender, jessamine, rose, cinnamon, cloves, &c. Having well stirred in the perfume, transfer the melted soap to gallicups, or little square tin-pans, and set it away to cool and harden. Afterwards, take out the cakes of soap, and wrap each cake closely in soft paper. Put them away where the air cannot reach them.
COLUMBIAN SOAP.—Blanch, in scalding water, two ounces of bitter almonds. Beat them in a mortar with an ounce of gum camphor, till completely mixed; putting in, with every almond, a morsel of the camphor. Then beat in an ounce and a quarter of tincture of benjamin, and remove the mixture to a bowl. Afterwards, having shaved down a pound of the best white soap, beat that also in the mortar; mixing with it, gradually, as you proceed, the above ingredients, till the whole is thoroughly incorporated. Divide it into equal portions, and roll it with your hands into the form of balls. This soap will be found very fine.
If you wish to have it in cakes, after you have shaved down the white soap, put it into a clean jar, cover it, and set the jar into a pot of boiling water, placed over the fire. When the soap is melted, remove it from the fire; and when it begins to cool, (but is still liquid,) stir in the other ingredients that have been mixed together as above. Then mould it in little square tin pans, and set it to cool. When quite cold, take it out of the pan, and wrap each cake in paper.
GOOD TOOTH-POWDER.—Procure, at a druggist’s, half an ounce of powdered orris-root, half an ounce of prepared chalk finely pulverized, and two or three small lumps of dutch pink. Let them all be mixed in a mortar, and pounded together. The dutch pink is to impart a pale reddish colour. Keep it in a close box.
ANOTHER TOOTH-POWDER.—Mix together, in a mortar, half an ounce of red Peruvian bark, finely powdered; a quarter of an ounce of powdered myrrh; and a quarter of an ounce of prepared chalk.
PARCHMENT GLUE.—Take half a pound of clean parchment cuttings, and boil it in three quarts of soft water till reduced to one pint. Then strain it from the dregs, and boil it again, till of the consistence of strong glue.
LIP GLUE.—Take of isinglass and parchment glue, of each one ounce; sugar-candy and gum tragacanth, each two drachms. Boil them in an ounce of water, till the mixture is of the consistence of thick glue. When cold, roll it between your hands, till you get it into the form of small sticks, like sealing-wax.
By wetting it with your tongue, and rubbing the moistened end of the stick on the edges of the paper that you wish to unite, it will, when dry, form a firm cement. A stick of lip-glue is very convenient to take with you when travelling, in case you should have occasion for some sort of paste.
PERPETUAL PASTE.—Buy, at a druggist’s, an ounce of the best gum tragacanth, (sometimes called gum dragon,) and six cents’ worth of powdered corrosive sublimate. Pick the gum tragacanth clean, and put it into a wide-mouthed glass or white-ware vessel, that will hold a quart. Add as much corrosive sublimate as will lie on a five-cent piece. Pour on a pint and a half of clear cold, soft water. Cover the vessel, and let it stand till next day. The gum tragacanth will then be much swelled, and nearly to the top of the vessel. Stir it down to the bottom with a stick, as the corrosive sublimate will blacken a metal spoon. Stir it several times during that day; but afterwards, do not stir it at all; leaving it to form a smooth white mass, like a very thick jelly. Then cover it closely, and set it away for use; taking care to keep it out of the way of children, as the corrosive sublimate will render it poisonous if swallowed.
This paste will keep to an indefinite period, if the air is carefully excluded from it, and if it is not transferred to a vessel made of any sort of metal. It forms a strong, colourless, and firm cement for paper, &c.; and when once made, may be kept always at hand; and is most convenient for all sorts of pasting; particularly little things, for which it would seem scarcely worth while to take the trouble of boiling flour-paste. It only spoils when kept in metal, or from long exposure to the air.
We can certify to its superiority over all other paste, having the experience of using it continually. The advantage of its being always ready is an important recommendation. Try it, and you will be induced to keep it constantly in the house.
GUM-ARABIC PASTE.—Take a common-sized tea-cup of cold, soft water, and dissolve in it a large tea-spoonful of the best and cleanest powdered gum-arabic. When the gum is entirely melted, stir in, by degrees, a table-spoonful of fine wheat flour; carefully pressing out all the lumps, and making it as smooth as possible. Keep it closely covered, and in a cool place. If, after a few days, it should appear spotted or mouldy on the top, remove the surface, and the paste beneath will still be fit for use. This is a good cement for artificial flowers, and for ornamental pasteboard work.
CEMENT FOR JARS AND BOTTLES.—According to the quantity of cement required, take one-third bees-wax and two-thirds rosin. Pound the rosin to a fine powder, and then put it, with the bees-wax, into any sauce-pan or skillet suited to the purpose, and set them over the fire to melt. When it becomes thoroughly liquid, take it off the fire, and stir in some finely-powdered brickdust, till the mixture becomes as thick as melted sealing-wax. Then plaster it, warm, round the covers of your preserve or pickle-jars. If you use it for bottles, first cork them tightly, and then dip their tops into the cement. It will dry in a few minutes. This cement is very strong and very cheap, and especially useful for articles that are to be carried to sea.
COVERING FOR CORKS.—The odour of a cologne bottle, or of any other scented liquid, may be prevented from escaping by keeping the cork and the neck of the bottle covered with the finger-end or thumb of an old kid glove, cut off, for the purpose, at a suitable length and breadth, and stretched or drawn down closely and tightly. This is more convenient than the usual kid-leather covers, that must be untied and tied again whenever the bottles are opened.
MILK OF ROSES.—Mix together a pint of rose-water, and an ounce of oil of sweet almonds. Then add ten drops of oil of tartar. Bottle it, and shake it well. It is good for the hands.
EXCELLENT POMATUM.—Melt some beef’s marrow on a slow fire, being careful not to let it burn; then strain it several times over, that it may be well purified. When partially cool, beat in some castor oil, a table-spoonful at a time. The proportion should be two-thirds of melted marrow to one-third of oil. Perfume it by stirring in, as you proceed, any sort of essential oil that is not too pungent. You may give it a fine red colouring by putting in, after the marrow has melted, some chips of alkanet tied in a very thin muslin bag, letting it remain till the tint is thoroughly infused. Keep it in covered gallicups. A little rubbed every day, or twice or three times a week, with the finger among the roots of the hair, will greatly improve its growth and softness.
AN EXCELLENT WAY OF IMPROVING THE HAIR.—Once in three days take some rich unskimmed milk that has been made sour by standing in the sun. Stir it up, so as to mix all through it the cream that has collected on the surface. Wash the hair with this, rubbing it well into the roots. Let it remain on the hair about a quarter of an hour or more. Then wash it off, with a lather of white soap and warm water; rinsing the hair, afterwards, with fresh water, either warm or cold, according to the season. This is an Asiatic process; and if continued every third day, seldom fails to render the hair of young people thick, soft, and glossy.
TO HAVE GOOD HAIR.—The women of Germany have remarkably fine and luxuriant hair. The following is their most usual method of managing it. About once a fortnight, boil for half an hour or more, a large handful of bran in a quart of soft water. Strain it into a basin, and let it cool till it is merely tepid or milk-warm. Rub into it a little white soap; then dip in the corner of a soft linen towel, and wash your head with it, thoroughly; dividing or parting aside the hair all over; so as to reach the roots. Next take the yolk of an egg, (slightly beaten in a saucer,) and with your fingers rub it well into the roots of the hair. Let it rest a few minutes; and then wash it off entirely, with a cloth dipped in pure water; and rinse your hair well, till all the yolk of egg has disappeared from it. Afterwards, wipe and rub it dry with a towel, and comb the hair up from your head, parting it with your fingers. In winter it is best to do all this near the fire.
Have ready some soft pomatum, made of fresh beef-marrow, boiled with a little almond oil or olive oil, stirring it all the time till it is well amalgamated, and as thick as an ointment. When you take it from the fire (and not before) stir into it a little mild perfume; such as rose-water, orange-flower water, extract of roses, oil of carnations, or essence of violets. Put it into gallicups that have lids, and keep it for use; always well-covered. Take a very small quantity of this pomatum, and rub it among your hair on the skin of your head, after it has been washed as above.
At any time you may make your hair curl more easily by rubbing into it some beaten yolk of egg, (washed off, afterwards with clear water,) and then putting on a little pomatum before you pin up your curls. It is well always to go through this process when you resume curls after having worn your hair plain.
All hair should be combed every morning with a fine-toothed comb, to remove the dust which insensibly gets into it during the preceding day, and to keep the skin of the head always clean.
To prevent your bonnet being injured by any oiliness about your hair, baste a piece of white or yellow oiled silk inside of that part of the bonnet where the crown unites with the brim, carrying the silk some distance up into the crown, and some distance down into the brim or front.
Clean your head-brushes by washing them thoroughly with a bit of soft sponge tied on the end of a stick, and dipped into a warm solution of pearlash, prepared by dissolving a large table-spoonful of pearlash in a pint of boiling water. When the bristles have thus been made quite clean, rinse the brushes in hot water; letting them remain in it till it becomes cool, or cold. Afterwards, drain the brushes; wipe them with a clean cloth; and set them upright before the fire to dry.
The most convenient way of cleaning combs is with a strong silk thread, made fast to the handle of a bureau-drawer—in front of which, seat yourself with a towel spread over your lap to catch whatever impurities may fall from the comb. Holding the comb in your left hand, and the thread in your right, pass the thread hard between each of the comb-teeth. Afterwards wash the comb in soap-suds, rinse it in cold water, and dry it with a clean cloth.
SALT OF LEMON OR STAIN POWDER.—This powder, which is erroneously called salt of lemon, is in reality composed simply of equal portions of finely pulverized salt of sorrel and cream of tartar, (for instance an ounce of each,) mixed together in a mortar, and afterwards put into small covered boxes, or gallipots. It will immediately remove ink spots, fruit stains, &c., from the hands or from any articles of white linen or muslin; first wetting the place with water (warm water is best) and then with your finger rubbing on the powder, till the stain disappears. Immediately afterwards wash it off with soap-suds. If applied to a coloured article that has been inked or stained, the powder in removing the stain will take out the colour. But the colour (particularly if black) may in most cases be restored by rubbing the place with hartshorn; which if very strong should be somewhat diluted with water, or it will leave a tinge of its own. If the hartshorn fails to restore the colour, it is on account of some peculiarity in the dye. It is always worth trying. We have seen a large splash of ink taken out of a carpet by first wetting it with warm water and rubbing on some of the above-mentioned stain powder. The colours were all restored to their former brightness by afterwards applying hartshorn. Next day, the place where the ink had been spilled on the carpet could not be distinguished. We have also known the same experiment tried with perfect success on a mousseline de laine dress on which an ink-stand had been overset.
Ink spots can be removed from white clothes by the simple application of a bit of clean tallow picked from the bottom of a mould candle, rubbed on the ink spot, and left sticking there when the article goes into the wash-tub. It will come out of the wash freed from the ink stain.
This stain powder should be kept out of the way of children, as if swallowed it is poisonous.
Fresh lemon-juice mixed with a little salt is excellent for removing stains of ink, iron mould, &c.
TO MAKE GREASE BALLS.—Shave down half a pound of white soap, and mix it with three ounces of fuller’s earth, powdered. Then mix together three ounces of ox-gall, and two ounces of spirits of turpentine. With this, moisten the soap and fuller’s earth, till you have a stiff paste. Mix it thoroughly, and beat it well. Make it into balls with your hands, and place the balls where they will dry slowly. To use it, scrape down a sufficiency, and spread it on the grease spot. Let it rest awhile; then brush it off, and scrape and apply some more. A few applications will generally remove the grease.
TO EXTRACT GREASE WITH CAMPHINE OIL.—Grease of the very worst sort (for instance whale oil) may be extracted successfully even from silks, ribbons, and other delicate articles, by means of camphine oil, which can always be procured at the lamp-stores. As this oil is best when fresh, get but a small quantity at a time. Pour some camphine into a clean cup, and dip lightly into it a bit of clean, soft, white rag. With this rub the grease spot. Then take a fresh rag dipped in the camphine, and continue rubbing till the grease is extracted, which will be very soon. You will find the colour of the article uninjured. To remove the turpentine odour of the camphine, rub the place with cologne water or strong spirits of wine, and expose it to the open air. If any of the camphine-scent remains, repeat the cologne. We have known lamp oil removed from white satin by this process.
FINE YELLOW COLOURING FOR WALLS.—Procure from a paint-shop one pound of chrome yellow, and three pounds of whiting. Mix and grind them thoroughly together; and then add a quart of boiling water, and stir it well in. Next boil a quarter of a pound of glue in a quart of water, and when completely dissolved, add it immediately to the mixture, and stir the whole very hard. Thin it with more water till you get it of the desired consistence. It will be a beautiful yellow, approaching to lemon colour.
BLUE WASH FOR WALLS.—Get a pound of blue vitriol from a drug or paint store, and have it powdered very finely in a mortar. Provide also two quarts of lime. Take six cents’ worth of glue, and boil it in a quart of soft water till thoroughly dissolved. Put the powdered vitriol into a wooden bucket, and when the glue-water is cold, pour it on the vitriol, and mix and stir it well. When the vitriol is dissolved in the glue-water, stir in by degrees the two quarts of lime. Then try the tint of the mixture by dipping a piece of white paper into it; and when it dries, you can judge if it is the colour you want. It should be a clear light beautiful blue. If you think it too dark, add some more lime. If too pale, stir in a little more of the powdered vitriol. It is well to provide an extra quantity of each of the articles, in case a little more of one or the other should be required on trial of the colour.
TO CLEAN WHITEWASH BRUSHES.—Wash off, with cold water, the lime from the bristles of the brush; and scrub well with a hard scrubbing-brush the part where the bristles are fixed into the wood. This should be done at once, as soon as the whitewashing for that day is finished. It is far better than to let them soak all night.
AN EASY WAY TO MAKE INK.—Take two ounces of the best and most perfect nut-galls, and bruise them to pieces with a hammer. Put them into a large mug, with half an ounce of copperas, and a quarter of an ounce of powdered gum-arabic. Pour on a pint of boiling water. Cover the vessel, and let it stand in a warm place for a week; frequently stirring the contents with a stick. Afterwards leave it one day undisturbed; and then pour off the liquid through a funnel into a bottle; in the bottom of which you have put half a dozen cloves or a spoonful of brandy, either of which will prevent the ink from moulding. Keep the bottle closely corked.
TO USE DURABLE INK.—It is an error (rectified by experience) to wash as soon as possible articles that have been marked with durable ink. On the contrary, they should be kept without washing for at least a week. If washed too soon, the soap and water will disturb the ink before it is thoroughly dried in, causing the letters to spread and look rough. Also, it will not be so good a black. Every time, before using it, set the little bottle with the marking liquid in the sun, or before a bright fire; and then stir it up from the bottom. This will increase its blackness. After putting the wash or gum-liquid on the place to be marked, dry it by the fire or in the hot sun, and then iron it smoothly. Do not write the name till next day, and then, as above mentioned, set the marking ink in the sun, and stir it up from the bottom. When the name is written, dry it as soon as possible, and then iron it again.
Durable ink may be extracted by wetting the writing with hot water, and then rubbing on a little sal-ammonia.
After making durable ink, set the marking liquid or lunar caustic preparation for three or four days in the hot sun; otherwise it will not become black.
SUMACH INK.—The milk or gum that exudes from the sumach is a good substitute for durable ink. Break off the stalks that support the leaves. Squeeze them into a cup, and write with the liquid. Expose it to the sun and it will become a fine black.
VERY FINE INK.—Into a large jar or pitcher put half a pound of the best Aleppo galls, broken up with a hammer or flat-iron; but not pounded. Pour on two quarts of soft water, nearly of boiling heat. Cover the vessel; and let it stand on a warm hearth or in the hot sun for a fortnight; stirring it to the bottom twice a day, with a stick. At the end of the fortnight, add two ounces of green copperas; two ounces of logwood chips; two ounces of gum-arabic; half an ounce of alum; and half an ounce of sugar-candy. Let the whole remain in a moderate heat a fortnight longer; stirring it twice a day. Keep the mouth of the vessel covered with paper only, tied down over it. On the last day, do not stir it, but pour the ink through a strainer into another vessel, and then with a funnel transfer it to bottles. Pour a small tea-spoonful or more of brandy into the top of each bottle, if small. To a pint bottle there should be a table-spoonful of brandy. This will preserve the ink from moulding. Cork the bottles well, and seal the corks. Keep them in a place of temperate heat.
In buying Aleppo galls get those that are dark coloured, heavy, and free from holes.
GOOD INK.—Bruise two ounces of Aleppo galls; put them into a pitcher with half an ounce of copperas, and a quarter of an ounce of gum arabic. Pour on a pint of soft water at boiling heat. Cover it, and let it stand a week; stirring it several times a day, except on the last day. Then pour it through a funnel into a bottle that has half a dozen cloves in it. In pouring, see that you do not disturb the sediment at the bottom of the pitcher. Cork the bottle tightly.
TO SOFTEN SPONGES.—A sponge, when first purchased, is frequently hard, stiff, and gritty. To soften it, and dislodge the particles of sea-sand from its crevices, (having first soaked and squeezed it through several cold waters,) put the sponge into a clean tin sauce-pan, set it over the fire, and boil it a quarter of an hour. Then take it out, put it into a bowl of cold water, and squeeze it well. Wash out the sauce-pan, and return the sponge to it, filling up with clean cold water, and boil it another quarter of an hour. Repeat the process, giving it three boils in fresh water; or more than three if you find it still gritty. Take care not to boil it too long, or it will become tender, and drop to pieces. You may bleach it by adding to the water a few drops of oil of vitriol.
The Mediterranean sponges are the best.
After using a sponge, always wash it immediately in clean water, squeeze it out, and put it to dry.
TO REMOVE THE ODOUR FROM A VIAL.—The odour of its last contents may be removed from a vial by filling it with cold water, and letting it stand in any airy place uncorked for three days; changing the water every day.
TO LOOSEN A GLASS STOPPER.—The manner in which apothecaries loosen glass stoppers when there is difficulty in getting them out, is to press the thumb of the right hand very hard against the lower part of the stopper, and then give the stopper a twist the other way, with the thumb and fore-finger of the left hand; keeping the bottle stiff in a steady position.
TO GET A BROKEN CORK OUT OF A BOTTLE.—If in drawing a cork it breaks, and the lower part falls down into the liquid, tie a long loop in a bit of twine, or small cord, and put it in; holding the bottle so as to bring the piece of cork near to the lower part of the neck. Catch it in the loop, so as to hold it stationary. You can then easily extract it with a cork-screw.
TO PURIFY THE ATMOSPHERE OF A ROOM.—Mix, in a cup, some brown sugar, with sufficient water to make it a thick liquid. Put a hot coal on a shovel; pour on the coal a tea-spoonful, or more, of the sugar, and carry it carefully about the room. The smoke will entirely remove any disagreeable odour. If the sugar is thrown dry upon the hot coal, it will blaze up, and burn out immediately, without effecting the desired purpose; but if mixed with a little water, it will not blaze at all, but the vapour arising from it will continue to smoke, till the unpleasant smell is entirely dispelled.
A few sprigs of lavender, laid on hot coals, and carried round the room, on a shovel, is a good remedy for a disagreeable odour.
Chloride of lime, sprinkled on dry, will, unfailingly, dispel the effluvia of any ill-scented substance. It is very cheap. A jar of it should be kept in every house; as, for this purpose, there is nothing more effectual.
TO CLEAN JARS.—There is frequently much trouble in cleaning the inside of jars that have contained sweet-meats, pickles, mince-meat, &c., so as entirely to remove all the odour of their former contents, before they can be used for another purpose. If the jars are of stone, fill them up with scalding water, and let them stand awhile. If of white-ware, or glass, the water must be merely warm; for if hot, it will crack them. Then stir in a large tea-spoonful, or more, of pearlash. Whatever of the former contents has remained sticking about, and adhering to the sides and bottom, will immediately disengage itself, and float loose through the water. Afterwards empty the jar, and if any odour lingers about its inside, fill it again with warm water and a spoonful of pearlash, and let it stand, undisturbed, a few hours, or till next day. Then empty it again, and rinse it with cold water. Wash phials in the same manner. Also, the inside of tea, coffee, and chocolate-pots. If you cannot, conveniently, obtain pearlash, the same purpose may be answered, nearly as well, by filling the vessels with strong lye, poured off clear from the wood-ashes. For kegs, buckets, crocks, or other large vessels, lye may always be used.
TO CLEAN LOOKING-GLASSES.—Take a newspaper, or a part of one, according to the size of the glass. Fold it small, and dip it into a basin of clean, cold water. When thoroughly wetted, squeeze it out in your hand, as you would a sponge; and then rub it, hard, all over the face of the glass; taking care that it is not so wet that the moisture will stream down the glass. Also, if any drops get beneath the frame, and behind the glass, they will remain there, in bubbles, and cannot be dislodged, without removing the board at the back. There is no danger of any such accidents, if the newspaper is merely moistened, or damped throughout; without being so wet as to drip. After the glass has been well rubbed, with the damp paper, let it rest a minute. Then go over it with a fresh newspaper, (folded small in your hand,) till it looks clear and bright; which it will, almost immediately. Finish with a fresh piece of newspaper, thoroughly dry.
This method, simple as it is, will be found, on trial, the best and most expeditious way of cleaning mirrors, or any plate-glass; giving a clearness and polish, that cannot be so soon produced by any other process. The inside of window-panes may be cleaned in this manner; the windows having been first washed on the outside. Also, the glasses of spectacles, &c. The glass globe of a lamp may thus be cleaned with newspapers.
The efficacy is attributed to the materials used in making the printing-ink.
TO REMOVE DARK STAINS FROM SILVER.—There are many substances that communicate a dark, inky stain to silver spoons, forks, &c.; a stain sometimes so inveterate as to resist all common applications. A certain remedy is, to pour a little sulphuric acid into a saucer; wet with it a soft linen rag; and rub it on the blackened silver, till the stain disappears. Then brighten the article with whiting, finely powdered and sifted, and moistened with spirits of wine. When the whiting has dried on, and rested a quarter of an hour, or more, wipe it off with a silk handkerchief, and polish with a soft buckskin.
TO CLEAN RINGS, BROOCHES, AND OTHER JEWELRY.—Put a little hartshorn into a saucer; dip into it a clean, soft rag, from an old cambric handkerchief. With the rag, go carefully over the jewelry, on both sides. Then dry and polish, with another bit of soft rag; and, finally, with a soft piece of old silk. Precious stones, mosaics and cameos may be cleaned in this manner. To brighten pearls, tear off a small bit of pin-paper, (such as rows of pins are stuck in,) roll it up, and, with the end of the roll, rub each pearl, separately; renewing the paper frequently.
The application of hartshorn, rubbed on with the finger, will generally remove the stain-spots that are sometimes found on new silk, and on new kid gloves. There are few stains, indeed, that may not be obliterated by hartshorn. If too strong, dilute it with a little water. Pour out, into your saucer, but very little hartshorn, at a time, as it evaporates almost immediately.
Reddish stains, on black silk, or worsted, can, almost always, be removed by hartshorn; and the original black colour will immediately re-appear.
TO KEEP SILVER ALWAYS BRIGHT.—Silver, in constant use, should be washed every day in a pan of suds made of good white soap and warm water; drying it with old soft linen cloths. Twice a week, (after this washing,) give it a thorough brightening with finely-powdered whiting, mixed to a thin paste with alcohol; rubbing longer and harder where there are stains. Then wipe this off, and polish with clean soft old linen. Silver is cleaned in this manner at the best hotels.
PLATE POWDER.—Buy, at a druggist’s, an ounce of levigated oxide of iron, and four ounces of prepared chalk, finely pulverized. Mix them well together, and put the mixture into small boxes. Rub it, dry, on the silver, and then polish with a clean buckskin; finishing with an old silk handkerchief. This is the composition usually sold as plate powder. Its colour is a reddish brown.
POWDER FOR CLEANING GOLD LACE.—Of burnt roche-alum, powdered as fine as possible, take two ounces and a half. Mix, thoroughly, with it, half an ounce of finely-powdered chalk. Take a small, clean, dry brush; dip it into the mixture, and rub it, carefully, on gold lace, or gold embroidery, that has become tarnished. Finish with a clean piece of new canton flannel. Keep a box or bottle of this mixture, that it may be ready to use on occasion. It is equally good for silver lace, and for jewelry.
TO KEEP BRITANNIA-METAL BRIGHT.—Dip a clean woollen cloth into the best and cleanest lamp oil, and rub it, hard, all over the outside of your Britannia-ware. Then wash it well in strong soap-suds, and afterwards polish with finely-powdered whiting and a buckskin. The inside of Britannia vessels should be washed with warm water, in which a little pearlash has been dissolved. They should then be set, open, to dry in the sun and air. If not kept very nice, this metal will communicate a disagreeable taste. There is so much copper in its composition, that tea-pots or coffee-pots of china, or white-ware, are far preferable to Britannia-metal.
TO CLEAN SILVER EXPEDITIOUSLY.—Put some powdered magnesia into a saucer. Have ready a few bits of new canton flannel. It is well, in cutting out canton flannel, to save the small shavings, or clippings, for this purpose. Dip a bit of the flannel into the magnesia, and with it rub the silver, very hard. It will brighten, immediately, if there are no black stains on it. Finish, by polishing with a clean piece of the flannel, without magnesia.
Dark stains on silver are best removed by rubbing them with flannel, dipped in sulphuric acid. This should be done before any brightening substance is applied.
PASTE FOR CLEANING KNIVES.—Make a mixture, one part emery, and three parts crocus martis, in very fine powder. Mix them to a thick paste, with a little lard or sweet oil. Have your knife-board covered with a thick buff-leather. Spread this paste on your leather, to about the thickness of a quarter-dollar. Rub your knives in it, and it will make them much sharper and brighter, and will wear them out less, than the common method of cleaning with brick-dust, on a bare board.
A GOOD WAY OF CLEANING SILVER.—Mix in a cup or saucer a paste of powdered magnesia, and the best and clearest lamp oil, (whale oil,) and cover with this paste the silver that is to be cleaned. Let it rest a quarter of an hour or more; applying the paste to all the articles you intend cleaning before you begin to remove it from any one of them. Afterwards wipe it off, entirely, with a soft linen rag, and then proceed to polish the plate with a soft buckskin, and some dry magnesia. Finish with a silk handkerchief. The longer you rub, the brighter will be the silver, but you must change frequently to clean parts of the buckskin. If the silver has much chasing or ornamental frost-work, it may be necessary to take a small soft brush to clean out all the hollows and crevices. But, if possible, avoid using a brush, as it wears the silver thin.
Silver may be kept continually bright with very little trouble, by cleaning it three times a-week, or every day, with dry magnesia rubbed on with a bit of clean shaggy canton flannel that has never been washed. Scraps and clippings of woollen flannel should never be used for cleaning plate, as its roughness may scratch it.
Dark stains on silver or gold may be immediately removed (however bad) by the application of a little sulphuric acid poured into a saucer and rubbed on with a soft rag. Then polish with magnesia and canton flannel.
The colour of silver will always be injured by keeping it in a room where there is a coal fire.
The cases of gold or silver watches may be cleaned, as above, with powdered magnesia and canton flannel.
TO TAKE WHITE MARKS FROM MAHOGANY.—If a white mark has been left on a mahogany table by carelessly setting down on it a vessel of hot water, rub the place hard with a rag dipped in lamp oil; and afterwards pour on a little cologne water, or a little alcohol, and rub it dry with a clean rag.
The dish-marks left on a dining-table can of course be taken off in the same manner.
If brandy is spilt on mahogany, and leaves a whitish mark, that mark can be removed by rubbing it hard with a rag dipped in more brandy. Try it.
TO TAKE SPERMACETI OUT OF A HEARTH OR FLOOR.—First scrape off the drops of spermaceti with a knife. Then take a live coal in the tongs and hold it carefully and closely over the place. Afterwards wipe it with a rag, and then wash it with hot soap-suds.
TO REMOVE GREASE FROM A STOVE HEARTH.—When oil or any other grease has been dropped on a stove hearth, immediately cover the place with very hot ashes. Afterwhile, clear away the ashes; and if the grease has not quite disappeared, repeat the process.
TO MAKE SHOES OR BOOTS WATER-PROOF.—Melt together, in a pipkin, equal quantities of bees-wax and mutton suet. While liquid, rub it over the leather, including the soles.
TO EXTRACT OIL FROM THE FLOOR OR HEARTH.—Mix together two heaped table-spoonfuls on powdered fuller’s earth; one large table-spoonful of potash or pearlash; and one large table-spoonful of soft soap. Add sufficient boiling water to make it into a thick paste. Spread it hot on the oil spot, with a broad flat stick; let it remain an hour or two. Then brush it off, and renew the application. When the grease has disappeared, scrub the place with soap and water.
This mixture is equally good for boards, stone, or marble.
TO TAKE OFF WALL PAPER.—To clear a wall from paper previous to painting or white-washing it, wet the old paper thoroughly with a long-handled brush dipped in a bucket of water, (warm water is best.) Let it rest till the water has penetrated it, and the paper blisters and loosens, so that you can peel it off with your hands. Do not wet too much at a time. If any small bits are found still adhering, wet them afresh, and scrape them off with a strong knife.
TO REMOVE PAINT FROM THE WALL OF A ROOM.—If you intend papering a painted wall, you must first get off the paint, otherwise the paper will not stick. To do this mix in a bucket with warm water a sufficient quantity of pearlash, or potash, so as to make a strong solution. Dip a brush into this, and with it scour off all the paint, finishing with cold water and a flannel.
DUSTING FURNITURE.—If a hand-brush is employed for dusting furniture it should always be followed by a cloth; and the cloth should be so used as to wipe up the dust; and not merely flirted about it, so as to drive the particles from one place to another. The cloth in wiping up the dust should hold it in, and then be shaken frequently out of a back window. A brush or a bunch of feathers will keep the dust floating about the room; dislodging but not absorbing it; and only removing it from one article to settle it on another. Therefore a cloth is indispensable in really freeing the furniture from dust. A yard of sixpenny calico, or of strong unbleached muslin, will make two small dusters or one large one. They should be hemmed or whipped over the edges, that servants may have no pretext for regarding them as mere rags, to be thrown away or torn up when dirty. It is difficult to dust well with a ragged dusting-cloth.
TO TAKE FRUIT STAINS FROM WHITE DOILIES OR NAPKINS.—The use of coloured doilies for wiping the fingers after eating fruit being nearly exploded, and small white napkins being now substituted for that purpose, let them, as soon as taken from table, be thrown immediately into a large vessel of clean water. If hot water is at hand it will be better than cold. Leave them to soak during the remainder of the day. Then take them out, put them where they will dry; and you will generally find that the fruit stains have disappeared. If any remain, wet the stains with hot water, and then rub on some lemon-juice, or salt-of-lemon stain-powder; washing it off as soon as it has removed the stain. Cream of tartar will sometimes produce this effect. It is scarcely possible to get a stain out of any sort of linen after it has been previously washed with soap.
TO CLEAR CLOSETS FROM COCKROACHES.—Remove every article from the closet, scrub the shelves with lye, and then whitewash the closet walls. Next take a sufficiency of black wadding, and soak it in spirits of turpentine or camphor, or a mixture of both. Then with a fork or the point of a knife, stuff it close and hard into every crevice, crack, and hole, however small. United with the copperas dye of the black wadding, the camphor and turpentine will destroy or expel the cockroaches, so that for a long time you will see no more of them. If they return, repeat the remedy; which of course will be as effective if applied to the crevices about the kitchen walls or floors. Let the closet remain empty for several days. Then place on each shelf a small plate with dry chloride of lime to dissipate the smell of the turpentine.
The preparation of phosphorus called Levy’s Exterminator, and which is to be had at the druggists’, is very destructive to cockroaches, rats, and mice. Cover with it a slice of bread and butter, then sprinkle on some brown sugar, and lay it in places where these vermin have been seen.
A mixture in the proportion of three table-spoonfuls of meal, and one table-spoonful of red lead, wetted to a thin paste with West India molasses, if laid on old plates, and set about their haunts, is very efficacious in expelling cockroaches.
These remedies are all good; and if used perseveringly and always resumed, as soon as the cockroaches begin to appear again, there will be but little trouble with these detestable insects. Nothing has yet been found that can banish them from a house so effectually as to preclude all danger of their ever returning. But much comfort is gained by even a temporary relief from them.
If an insect gets into the ear it may be destroyed by pouring in a little sweet oil. They have been sometimes enticed out, by applying to the ear a piece of ripe peach or apple.
SMALL COCKROACHES.—Many houses are much infested with small brown cockroaches, which are especially troublesome and disgusting from their disposition to get into bureaus, wardrobes, trunks, and even band-boxes. They will soon depart, if bunches of pennyroyal (as fresh as you can get it, and frequently renewed) are laid in all the places where they have appeared, or are likely to come. Pennyroyal is to be generally bought in market at the very trifling cost of one cent a bunch. At any season it can be had at the druggists’, and at the garden stores. Rags dipped in oil of pennyroyal, and laid about their haunts, will frequently expel these cockroaches. But every one that is seen should be immediately killed, and not merely brushed off, to run to another place. There is little difficulty in keeping a house free from cockroaches and all other vermin, if the remedies are applied in time, and with perseverance.
The very bad practice of using old bricks for cellar-walls and back-buildings, is the chief cause of new houses becoming immediately infested with cockroaches, &c. They have in this way been introduced at once into some very elegant mansions in Philadelphia, where old bricks have been used for the cellars; these bricks having originally belonged to old almshouses, long since pulled down. To buy such bricks, however cheap, is a miserable economy.
TO DESTROY CRICKETS.—Mix some powdered arsenic with roasted apple, and put it into the cracks and holes whence the crickets issue. It will effectually destroy them. And cockroaches also.
TO EXPEL FLEAS.—Get some pennyroyal. Having stripped the leaves from the stalks, stuff them into little bags, made of muslin or thin calico, and sewed up all round. Lay these bags among the bedding, and the pennyroyal will send away the fleas. If more convenient, sprinkle the bedding with oil or essence of pennyroyal. When travelling, it is well to take with you some little bags of pennyroyal, in case you should have to sleep in a bed infested with fleas.
Camphor is also a good remedy against fleas.
Pennyroyal will generally expel the small brown cockroaches, if bunches of it are kept constantly in the closets, wardrobes, bureaus, &c. It is likewise an excellent remedy against wood-ticks; keeping some of it about you, if obliged to go into places where these intolerable insects abound. When the wood-ticks fasten on the skin, brush them with a bunch of pennyroyal, and they will fall off immediately.
TO DESTROY BED-BUGS.—Among the numerous ways of destroying bugs, there is none better than to wash carefully, with a solution of corrosive sublimate in spirits of wine, all the cracks and crevices of the bedstead, at least once a week; taking care to throw out directly whatever may remain in the bowl or saucer, which should at once be washed clean in hot water. Corrosive sublimate is a most deadly poison, if even a small quantity is swallowed. One of the best remedies for it, is to take immediately a large quantity of sweet oil.
Mercurial ointment, rubbed once a week into all the joints and crevices of the bedstead, is an excellent destroyer of bugs. It can best be rubbed in with the finger. Leave it on the bedstead without wiping off; and do not put on the bedding till evening.
TO DESTROY FLIES.—Get, at a druggist’s, some Egyptian or Fly-killing paper. Lay a piece of it on an old plate, and keep it moist by wetting it frequently with water. It will soon be found covered with dead flies. Shake them off, and wet the paper again.
Or mix together a table-spoonful of powdered black pepper, the same quantity of brown sugar, and as much milk as will make it into a thin paste. Set it about on saucers. It will attract the flies, and they will die on eating it.
TO DESTROY GARDEN ANTS.—Mix together half a pound of flour of brimstone, and four ounces of potash. Put them into an iron pot or pan, and stir it over the fire till they are dissolved, and well incorporated. Then pound them to a powder. Put the powder into a glass jar, with a cover, and keep it for use. Infuse some of this powder in a cup of water, and sprinkle with it the places that are infested by ants. They will soon disappear.
TO EXPEL SMALL ANTS.—Mix a tea-spoonful of tartar emetic in two table-spoonfuls of molasses. Stir this into a small saucer of water, and set it where you have seen the ants. Let it remain all night; and in the morning you will find a great number of ants lying dead on the surface of the water, and the others will have been frightened away. Skim off the dead ants, and set the saucer in any other place where these insects have appeared. This we know, by experience, to be an excellent remedy for the little ants with which so many houses are infested, and which swarm over sweet things.
MICE.—An excellent preparation for expelling mice and rats is Levy’s Exterminator, spread upon bread or cheese, and laid about the places they frequent. It is a preparation of phosphorus; and after one mouse has eaten it and (of course) died, the others will disappear. It is to be had of most druggists; and will also destroy cockroaches, by spreading it on bits of cake or something similar, and laying it at night on the kitchen hearth, and in the closets. We highly recommend it.
If you propose to destroy a mouse by arsenic spread on bread and butter, sprinkle on the arsenic a drop or two of oil of rhodium, and the mouse will unfailingly be attracted to the poison. Place beside it a saucer of water, and as soon as he has eaten of the poisoned bread and butter, he will drink, and then die on the spot.
Oil of aniseed, spread on the bait, will attract them into a trap.
TO DESTROY CATERPILLARS.—Mix together twelve ounces of powdered quick-lime, two ounces of snuff, two ounces of fine salt, and two ounces of powdered sulphur. Strew this mixture over the caterpillars, or dissolve it in five gallons of water; keep it in a convenient vessel, and sprinkle with it places where they abound.
Any garden insects may be destroyed in this manner.
TO DESTROY WORMS IN GARDEN WALKS.—Pour into the worm-holes a strong lye, made of wood-ashes, lime, and water. Or, if more convenient, use, for this purpose, strong salt and water.
TO DESTROY THE BEE-MILLER.—This insect, whose night-visits are so destructive to bees, may be destroyed by mixing a large wine-glass of vinegar with a pint of water, that has been made very sweet with honey. Set it in a bowl on the top of the hive, or beside it. It will attract the miller, and then drown him.
TO MAKE THE HANDS SMOOTH AND SOFT.—For this purpose there is nothing nicer than the beautiful, fragrant, and delicate composition called Almond Cream, (CrÊme d’Amandes.) This almond cream (which must not be confounded with another preparation called Amandine) is, when fresh, very soft and white, and resembles ice-cream in appearance. To use it—first dip your hands into a basin of water, and then put on one of the palms a very small portion of the almond cream, (not larger than a grain of indian corn,) and with the other hand rub it to a lather. Rub it well into your hands and all over them before you wash it off. We know, by experience, that this is the best of all preparations for keeping the hands in nice order. If used every day, it will effectually prevent the skin from chapping in cold weather; and will remove any roughness caused by incidental employments, or by putting the hands into salt water. We earnestly recommend it. Keep it closely covered. If you live where it can be easily procured, do not get more than one gallicup at a time, as almond cream is always best when freshly made. Exposure to the air hardens and discolours it.
Another very excellent article for the hands is sand-soap, or sand wash-balls,—a preparation of soap mixed with fine sea-sand. There is nothing superior to it for washing the hands of boys, and of all persons whose business obliges them to use much manual exertion. Also, the hands of the most delicate lady will be rendered still softer and smoother by the daily use of sand-soap. Try it—but not for the face or neck.
Sand-soap is made by shaving down and melting some white soap, and then stirring into it, while warm, an equal quantity of fine dry sea-sand. Put it, warm, into square moulds, or roll portions of the mixture between your hands, so as to form balls. Set them in a dark place to dry gradually.
TO REMOVE CORNS FROM BETWEEN THE TOES.—These corns are generally more painful than any others, and are frequently situated as to be almost inaccessible to the usual remedies. Wetting them several times a day with hartshorn will in most cases cure them. Try it.
TO ALLAY PAIN IN THE FEET WHEN CAUSED BY FATIGUE.—If your feet become painful from walking or standing too long, put them as soon as you can into warm salt and water, mixed in the proportion of two large handfuls of salt to a gallon of water. Sea-water made warm is still better, if you can conveniently procure it. Keep your feet and ankles in the salt water till it begins to feel cool, rubbing them well with your hands. Then wipe them dry, and rub them long and hard with a coarse thick towel, or with a hair glove. Where the feet are tender and easily fatigued, it is an excellent practice to go through this process regularly every night, or every morning, or both; also employing it without fail always on coming home from a walk. With perseverance this has cured neuralgia in the feet.
To prevent any roughness that may ensue after taking your hands out of the brine, wash them immediately with soap; or what is still better, with almond cream, first dipping them into cold water, and then rubbing on a little of the above composition till it forms a lather. Almond cream is much used by gentlemen as a shaving soap, but it is also a very pleasant and useful article for a ladies washing-stand, being excellent for smoothing the hands, and preventing their chopping in cold weather. It is well to get but a small box at a time, as exposure to the air somewhat dries and discolours it. It should be kept closely covered.
Chilblains or frost-bitten feet may be cured or prevented by dipping the feet night and morning into cold water. Then taking them out and wiping them dry with a coarse towel. Persevere, and you will find the remedy effectual.
RELIEF FOR RHEUMATIC PAINS.—Bathe the afflicted part at night and morning, and frequently through the day, with warm salt and water, (mixed in the proportion of two handfuls of salt to a quart of water,) rubbing it well into the skin. Do this near the fire, or in a warm room; avoiding exposure to a draught of air. Sea-water heated over the fire will answer the purpose still better.
A table-spoonful of Hopkins’s Compound Syrup of Sarsaparilla, taken thrice a day, and persevered in for six or eight weeks, has frequently cured a chronic rheumatism.
Swaim’s Panacea has effected wonderful cures in rheumatism of long standing.
RELIEF FOR A SPRAINED ANKLE.—Wash the ankle very frequently with cold salt and water, which is far better than warm vinegar or decoctions of herbs. Keep your foot as cool as possible to prevent inflammation; and sit with it elevated on a high cushion. Live on very low diet, and take every day some cooling medicine; for instance epsom salts. By observing these directions only, a sprained ankle has been cured in a few days.
BATHING THE FEET.—In bathing the feet of a sick person, use at the beginning, tepid or lukewarm water. Have ready in a tea-kettle or covered pitcher, some hot water, of which pour in a little at intervals; so as gradually to increase the temperature of the foot bath, till it becomes as warm as it can be borne with comfort; after which, the feet should be taken out before the water cools. This is a much better way than to put them at first into very warm water, and let it grow cool before they are taken out. Clean stockings, well warmed, should be ready to put on the feet as soon as they are out of the water, and have been rubbed dry with a flannel.
CURE FOR A RUN-ROUND.—That disease of the finger or toe commonly called a run-round, may be easily cured by a remedy so simple that persons who have not seen it tried are generally incredulous as to its efficacy. The first symptoms of the complaint are heat, pain, swelling, and redness at the top of the nail. The inflammation, if not checked, will soon go round the whole of the nail, causing intense pain, accompanied by a festering or gathering of yellow matter, and ending in the loss of the nail. To prevent all this, as soon as the first symptoms of swelling and inflammation commence, lay the finger flat on the table, and let the nail be scratched, all over with the sharp point of a pair of scissors, or a penknife. This excoriation must be done first crossways, and then lengthways, so as thoroughly to scratch up the whole surface of the nail, leaving it rough and white. This little operation does not give the slightest pain; and we have never, in a single instance, known it fail. By next morning the finger will be well. If done before the festering commences, it is a certain and speedy cure. And it will even succeed at a later stage of the disease, by first opening with a needle that part of the swelling where the yellow matter has begun to appear; and afterwards by scratching up the surface of the nail with scissors or penknife.
Hard horny warts on the hands can be cured positively, and without pain, by touching their tops twice a day or more with a clean quill pen, dipped in aquafortis. The wart, after a few applications of the aquafortis, will turn brown, and crumble till it falls off.
For ring-worms there is no remedy so good as mercurial ointment, rubbed on it at night, and not washed off till morning. It causes no pain, and by repetition will always effect a cure.
TO APPLY AN EYE-STONE.—Eye-stones are frequently used to extract motes from the eye, sparks from steam-engines, and other extraneous substances. They are to be procured at the druggists’. They cost but two or three cents a piece; and it is well to get several, that in case one fails you may try another. To give an eye-stone activity, lay it for about five minutes in a saucer of vinegar and water; and if it is a good one it will soon begin to move or swim round in the liquid. Then wipe it dry, and let it be introduced beneath the eye-lid, binding a handkerchief closely round the eye. The eye-stone will make the circuit of the eye, and in its progress take up the mote, which it will bring with it, when on the pain ceasing, the handkerchief is removed. Eye-stones are the eyes of lobsters.
When a mote or spark gets into your eye, immediately pull down the lower eye-lash; and, at the same moment with a handkerchief in your hand, blow your nose violently. This will frequently expel the mote without further trouble. A mote will sometimes come out by merely holding your eye wide open in a cup or glass filled to the brim with clear cold water. Or, take a pin, and wrapping its head in the corner of a soft cambric handkerchief, sweep carefully round the eye with it, above and below, inserting it under the lid. This should be done with a firm and steady hand, and will often bring out the mote. Another way is to take a long clean bristle from a brush, tie the ends together with a bit of thread so as to form a loop, and sweep round the eye with it, so that the loop may catch the mote and bring it out.
A particle of iron or steel, has, we know, been extracted from the eye, by holding near it a powerful magnet.
Rail-road sparks, &c., have frequently been removed from the eye by introducing the feather-end of a quill, and sweeping it round beneath the edge of the lid. If done with care and dexterity it will generally succeed.
CURE FOR THE TETTER.—Obtain at a druggist’s an ounce of sulphuret of potash. Be careful to ask for this article precisely. It is a preparation of sulphur and potash. Put the sulphuret into a large glass jar; pour on it a quart of cold soft water; and leave it to dissolve, having first corked it tightly. Afterwards add to it a wine-glass of rose-water. It may be more convenient afterwards to transfer it to smaller bottles, taking care to leave them closely corked. Pour into each a table-spoonful or more of rose-water. To use it, pour a little into a saucer, and dipping in a soft sponge, bathe the eruption five or six times a day. Persist, and, in most cases, it will very soon effect a cure. It is, indeed, a safe and most excellent remedy. Should the tetter re-appear with the return of cold weather, immediately resume the use of this solution. A bath in which sulphuret of potash was dissolved in water (in the above proportions) has succeeded in curing the tetter after the eruption had spread all over the body of a child.
CURE FOR EXCORIATED NOSTRILS.—If, after a severe cold in the head, the inside of the nostrils continue sore and inflamed, rub them lightly with a little kreosote ointment, applied to the interior of your nose with the finger. Do this at night, and several times during the day. It will very soon effect a cure; often in twenty-four hours.
FOR A CHAFED UPPER LIP.—For a chafed upper lip and soreness of the end of the nose, such as generally accompanies a cold in the head or influenza, much relief may be found from the homely remedy of greasing the excoriation, at night on going to bed, with a bit of mutton tallow (that of a candle will do) held to the fire to soften. Extend the application over all the nose and even between the eyes. It is well to keep always in the house some nice tallow, prepared by boiling and skimming a sufficient quantity of fresh mutton fat, (there must not be a particle of salt about it,) and then pouring it warm into gallicups, which should be closely covered as soon as the liquid has congealed.
CURE FOR PRICKLY HEAT.—Mix a large portion of wheat bran with either cold or lukewarm water, and use it as a bath twice or thrice a day. Children who are covered with prickly heat in warm weather will be thus effectually relieved from that tormenting eruption. As soon as it begins to appear on the neck, face, or arms, commence using the bran-water on these parts repeatedly through the day, and it may probably spread no farther. If it does, the bran-water bath will certainly cure it, if persisted in.
BROWN MIXTURE FOR A COUGH.—Mix in a large bottle, half an ounce of liquorice; a quarter of an ounce of gum-arabic; two tea-spoonfuls of antimonial wine; sixty drops of laudanum; and half a pint of water. Shake it well, and when the ingredients are thoroughly amalgamated it will be fit for use. For a cold and cough, take a dessert-spoonful three or four times a day, shaking or stirring it first.
RED LIP SALVE.—Mix together equal portions of the best suet and the best lard. There must be no salt about them. Boil slowly, and skim and stir the mixture. Then add a small thin bag of alkanet chips; and when it has coloured the mixture of a fine deep red, take it out. While cooling, stir in, very hard, sufficient rose or orange-flower water to give it a fine perfume. A few drops of oil of rhodium will impart to it a very agreeable rose-scent.
Cold cream for excoriated nostrils, chafed upper lips, or chapped hands may be made nearly as above, but with one-third suet, and two-thirds lard, and no alkanet. When it has boiled thoroughly, remove it from the fire, and stir in, gradually, a large portion of rose-water, or a little oil of rhodium, beating very hard. Put it into small gallicups, with close covers.
MUSTARD PLASTERS.—Mustard plasters are frequently very efficacious in rheumatic or other pains occasioned by cold. It is best to make them entirely of mustard and vinegar without any mixture of flour. They should be spread between two pieces of thin muslin, and bound on the part affected. As soon as the irritation or burning becomes uncomfortable, take off the plaster. They should never remain on longer than twenty minutes; as by that time the beneficial effect will be produced, if at all. When a mustard plaster has been taken off, wash the part tenderly with a sponge and warm water. If the irritation on the skin continues troublesome, apply successive poultices of grated bread-crumbs wetted with lead water.
A mustard plaster behind the ear will often remove a toothache, earache, or a rheumatic pain in the head. Applied to the wrists they will frequently check an ague-fit, if put on as soon as the first symptoms of chill evince themselves.
OPODELDOC.—Take an ounce of gum camphor; half a drachm of oil of rosemary; half a drachm of oil of origanum; two ounces of castile soap cut small; and half a pint of spirits of wine. Boil these all together for half an hour after the boiling has commenced. Let the mixture cool in the vessel, and then bottle it for use. It is a good embrocation for bruises, sprains, stiffness of the neck and shoulder, and for rheumatic pains.
CAMPHOR SPIRITS.—Break up into small bits an ounce of gum camphor, and put it into a pint glass bottle. Then fill up with spirits of wine, cork it, and leave the camphor to dissolve, shaking it occasionally. This will be found quite as good as the camphor spirits obtained at the druggist’s, and the cost will be far less. It is well to keep a bottle of it always in the house. When taken to remove faintness or nervous affections, pour a few drops into a wine-glass of water. Camphor kept for external use is best when dissolved in whisky, as it produces less irritation of the skin than when melted in alcohol.
The pain of a fly-blister will be much alleviated by sprinkling powdered gum camphor thickly over the surface of the plaster before it is put on. This should always be done.
REMEDY FOR ARSENIC.—Dissolve a few scruples of sulphuret of potash in half a pint, or a pint of water, and administer it a little at a time, as the patient can bear it; having first given the white of an egg.
Another remedy is to mix two tea-spoonfuls of made mustard with sufficient warm water to thin it, so as to make it easy to swallow. It acts as an emetic, and is good for any poison.
ANTIDOTE TO CORROSIVE SUBLIMATE.—If corrosive sublimate (one of the worst poisons) has been swallowed, immediately drink a large quantity of olive oil, even the whole contents of a flask; or more, indeed, if that is not found sufficient. This remedy, if taken in time, is always efficacious. If it cannot be immediately obtained, try white of egg.
REMEDY FOR AN OVER-DOSE OF LAUDANUM.—A cup of the strongest possible coffee has been known to keep the patient awake, and effect a positive cure when all other means have failed. After the fatal sleep has been thus prevented, and the patient is thoroughly roused and excited, let an emetic be administered.
MEDICATED PRUNES.—Take a quarter of an ounce of senna and manna (obtained ready mixed from the druggists’) and pour on it not quite a pint of boiling water. Cover it; set it by the fire; and let it infuse for an hour. If the vessel in which you prepare it has a spout, stop up the spout with a roll or wad of soft paper. This should always be done in making herb teas, or other decoctions; as a portion of the strength evaporates at the spout. When the infusion of senna and manna has thus stood an hour at the fire, strain it into a skillet or sauce-pan (one lined with porcelain will be best) and stir in a large wine-glass or a small teacup-full of West India molasses. Add about half a pound or more of the best prunes; putting in sufficient prunes to absorb all the liquid during the process of stewing. Then cover the vessel closely, and let it stew (stirring it up occasionally) for an hour; or till you find the stones of the prunes are all loose. If stewed too long, the prunes will taste weak and insipid. When done, put it into a dish to cool; and pick out all the stones. If properly prepared there will be no perceptible taste of the senna and manna. It may be given to children at their lunch or supper.
FINE HOARHOUND CANDY.—Take a large bunch of the herb hoarhound, as green and fresh as you can get it. Having picked it clean, and washed it, cut it up (leaves and stalks) with scissors. Scald, twice, a china tea-pot or a covered pitcher; then empty it of the hot water. Put in the hoarhound, pressing it down with your hands. The pot should be about two-thirds full of the herb. Then fill it up with boiling water; cover it closely, and wedge a small roll of paper tightly into the mouth of the spout, to prevent any of the strength escaping with the steam. Set it close to the fire to infuse, and keep it there till it begins to boil. Then immediately take it away, and strain it into another vessel. Mix with the liquid sufficient powdered loaf-sugar to make it a very thick paste. When the sugar is in, set it over the fire, and give it a boil, stirring and skimming it well. Take a shallow, square tin pan, grease it slightly with sweet oil, and put into it the candy, as soon as it is well boiled; smoothing the surface with a wet knife-blade. Sift over it some powdered sugar. Set it away to cool; and when nearly congealed, score it in squares. It is a well-known remedy for coughs and hoarseness.
If you find it too thin, you may stir in, while boiling, a spoonful of flour, of arrow-root, or of finely-powdered starch.
Another way of making this candy is, to boil the hoarhound in barely as much water as will cover it, and till all the juice is extracted. Then squeeze it through a cloth, and give the strained liquid another boil, stirring in, gradually, sugar enough to make it very thick and stiff. Afterwards sift sugar over a shallow tin pan, fill it with the paste, and leave it to congeal; scoring it in squares before it is quite hard.
Any herb-candy may be made as above.
FINE LAVENDER COMPOUND.—For this purpose, use lavender buds, gathered just before they are ready to blow. As soon as the blossom expands into a flower, a portion of its strength and fragrance immediately evaporates. This is also the case with roses; which, for rose-water, should always be gathered, not after they are blown, but when just about to open.
Having stripped the lavender buds from the stalks, measure a pint of the buds, and mix with them half an ounce of whole mace; half an ounce of whole cloves; two nutmegs broken up, but not grated; and half an ounce of powdered cochineal. Put the whole into a large glass jar, and pour in a quart of the best French brandy. Cover the jar closely; making it completely air-tight by the addition of strong paper, pasted down over the cover. Set it away, and leave the ingredients to infuse, undisturbed, for a month. Then strain it into a pitcher; and from the pitcher pour it through a funnel into bottles; corking them tightly. It is a well-known remedy for flatulence, and pains and sickness of the stomach. To use it, put some loaf-sugar into a spoon, and pour on sufficient lavender to soften the sugar; then eat it.
Instead of cochineal, you may give a fine red colour to lavender compound by tying up a quarter of an ounce of alkanet in a thin muslin bag, (seeing that the alkanet is free from dust,) and putting the bag into the jar while the other ingredients are infusing in the brandy.
BLACKBERRY SYRUP.—Take a sufficient quantity of fine, ripe, sweet blackberries. Put them into a sieve placed over a large broad pan; and with a clean potatoe-masher, (or something similar,) mash the blackberries, and press out all their juice. Or (having bruised them first) put the blackberries into a linen bag, and squeeze out all the juice into a vessel placed beneath. Measure it; and to every quart of the strained juice allow half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar; a heaped tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon; the same of powdered cloves; and a large nutmeg grated. Mix the spices with the juice and sugar, and boil all together in a porcelain preserving-kettle; skimming it well. When cold, stir into each quart of the syrup half a pint of fourth-proof brandy. Then bottle it for use. This is a good family medicine; and is beneficial in complaints incident to summer. It should be administered, (at proper intervals,) from a tea-spoonful to a wine-glassful, according to the age of the patient.
RHUBARB BITTERS.—Take two ounces of rhubarb root; half an ounce of cardamom seeds; one drachm of Virginia snake-root; and half a drachm of gentian root. Put these articles into a large bottle, and pour on it a quart of good brandy.
It is excellent for children in complaints incident to summer weather.
TO PREVENT A JUG OF MOLASSES FROM RUNNING OVER.—A jug or bottle of molasses frequently causes inconvenience by working over at the top, after coming from the grocer’s, and being set in a room or closet that is warmer than the place from which it was brought. To prevent this—as soon as you receive it, pour out a portion into another vessel; for instance, into a pitcher or bowl. Then set the jug of molasses into a deep pan or basin, and leave it uncorked till next day. By that time, all danger from fermentation will have subsided. Then cork it tightly, and set it away. Keep always under the bottom of the jug an old plate, or a double piece of thick paper to receive any drippings that may run down the sides. Never bring molasses to table without a plate or saucer under the vessel that contains it.
West India molasses is far more wholesome and nourishing than any other, and is decidedly the best for gingerbread, molasses-candy, indian-puddings, &c. Sugar-house molasses, if used for those articles, will render them hard and tough.
TO EXTINGUISH A COAL FIRE.—Many persons who burn anthracite coal in their chambers, have suffered great inconvenience from not knowing how to extinguish it before they go to bed. The process is very simple, and always successful. Lift off with the tongs any large coals that may lie on the top, and lay them on the iron hearth of the grate; they will make good cinders to burn next day in a close-stove or furnace. Then shut up the tongs, and with them make a hollow or deep cavity just in the centre of the fire, heaping up the coals like a hill on each side, and making the tongs go down to the bottom of the grate. If there are not many coals, you may do this with the poker. The fire will immediately begin to fade and deaden; and in less than ten minutes, it will be entirely out, without farther trouble; unless it has been very large, and then it may require a second stirring.
In the morning, let the grate be cleared entirely of all the cinders and ashes, and swept out clean with a brush. Cover the bottom of the grate with a sort of flooring of small fresh coal, before you put in the kindlings; otherwise, after the kindlings (wood or charcoal) are lighted, they will burn away immediately, and fall through the bottom bars of the grate, before they have had time to ignite the coal that has been laid above them; so that the grate will have to be again cleared out, fresh kindlings brought, and the fire built up anew, before it can possibly succeed.
The above way of extinguishing a coal-fire answers equally well for a close-stove or a furnace.
The heat of a grate may be considerably diminished by standing up the blower against it; the bottom of the blower resting on the hearth. To lessen the heat of a close-stove, leave open the large door of the stove. In the same manner diminish the heat of a furnace.
